Hanging Up Life
by Xehanorto
Summary: A one shot featuring Ib's final moments with Fake Garry from Ib All Alone 2.


**Here is a oneshot featuring Ib and Fake Garry from the second Ib All Alone ending.**

* * *

Ib and Garry had been living in the fake gallery for nearly 100 years now with either of them never changing despite all the time they spent in there. They both had lost track after the second year for how long they were in there, but as days and weeks passed, Ib had this feeling in her gut that something wasn't right.

Garry was sitting where Mary's portrait once existed, simply gazing off into space. He was thinking about what he and Ib had been doing for all this time. They had seen all of the paintings at least ten times each now, but Ib seemed to be nowhere close to tiring of them. He then thought to the day when he came to be after Garry's death.

_I know I'm not him, but why do I feel like I should do what he tried to do and protect her? No, I have a plan and I need to stick with it._

After Garry had murmured this to himself, Ib came running into the room crying, and landed right on top of Garry hugging him tightly.

"Ib, what's wrong?"

Ib looked up at Garry innocently, with tears running down her face.

"I had a nightmare again."

Garry wiped the tears off of her face and began stroking her hair to calm her down. This hadn't been the first time she had nightmares and he was becoming an expert on how to calm her down after one. Ib cuddled herself inside Garry's jacket, which resulted and Garry having to hug her.

"Can you tell me about it Ib?"

Ib nodded and began to tell him about her nightmare.

* * *

Ib and Garry had just arrived at the fake gallery, with Ib excited to see all of the paintings again. Garry had been mainly conversing with The Lady in Red on the way there, which Ib was used to by now. Ib ran off ahead to see the other paintings, with Garry and Red simply walking around talking.

Then Ib came to the portrait of The Hanged Man. She simply was drawn into it and stared at it for what seemed like eternity. Eventually Garry had caught up to her and shook her a little. Ib snapped back to reality and stared at Garry then the portrait.

However, before Garry could say anything, Ib was suddenly swept up by rope and was hanging up in the ceiling. A voice then whispered to her that she was going to be hanged for her crimes, but she would be punished slowly. She then merely hung crying tears that fell onto Garry.

He stared into the painting, seeing the man that was there slowly change into Ib. Eventually the tears stopped falling and Garry looked up to Ib. She whispered to him something, but before he could answer, she vanished into thin air. Garry then looked back at the painting and say that Ib was now being hanged and the title had changed to The Hanged Woman.

* * *

"Ib, that's awful, but don't worry. I'm here to protect you remember, you have nothing to worry about. Besides, isn't it your birthday today?"

Ib nodded slowly, having fallen half asleep while being held by Garry.

"Well, I won't let you be sad on your birthday. So, what do you want to do?"

Ib fluttered her eyes open and yawned loudly, causing Garry to smile at how cute she was.

"Well, maybe we could draw something first, we do have all these crayons, maybe we should use them."

Garry let Ib stand up and stretch, trying to wipe more tears off of her face. Garry was getting tired of the constant nightmares, the constant visits to the gallery, and the constant care, but something in the back of his head just kept nagging him to keep the ruse up.

Ib then returned with some paper and an assortment of crayons, placing them between the two so they could share.

"Garry, what are you going to draw?"

"It's a surprise Ib, consider this part of your present."

Ib blushed a little at this.

"Garry, I don't need a present as long as I have you."

Garry smiled at this and received a hug from Ib that crushed him a little.

"I still want to do something nice for you."

Garry then began drawing on the canvas of paper that he had been handed, while Ib began sketching something on hers. Ib was constantly trying to see what Garry was drawing, but he kept moving his head so she could only get tiny glimpses.

"Ib, if you keep trying to peek, it's going to ruin the surprise."

Ib frowned and went back to her drawing, smiling as the work came to life on her canvas. She hoped that Garry would like the picture, but her mind kept wandering to what would be on Garry's canvas.

After some time had passed the two had finished drawing their pictures, with both of them hiding theirs behind their backs.

"Alright Ib, what did you draw."

Ib showed him a piece of paper that had him and her holding hands, staring at a beautiful sunset that was on the horizon.

"I know we've been here for a while, but when we find a way out, this is what I want us to do first."

Garry put on a fake smile, but Ib couldn't tell the difference. She was upset because they hadn't successful in finding an exit for all the time they had spent here. At first she had been really sad because she could never see her parents again or her home, but eventually that faded with the comfort that Garry provided.

"Alright, once we get out of here, we'll go see a sunset. Now for my picture."

Garry showed her a carefully drawn portrait of Ib surrounded by all of those bunny ornaments she liked so much, but were actually demented little dolls. On the top was written Happy Birthday Ib! with Garry's signature at the bottom left corner.

Ib was over swelled with happiness and quickly hugged Garry, causing both of them to drop their drawings. Garry softly returned the hug and then picked her up, placing Ib on his shoulders.

"Alright Ib, what do you want to do next?"

"Well there are a few paintings I would like to go see."

Garry then began walking towards the door, trying to keep himself balanced with Ib sitting on him.

"Alright Ib, let's go."

As the two headed out the sketchbook area, a doll came into Mary's room and saw the two pictures. The doll immediately pulled out her old knife and stabbed Ib in the picture that she had drawn until it was only Garry looking at the sunset.

Then on the second picture, the bunnies had become those creepy dolls and began to overcome Ib until the dolls had formed a chain around her. The doll then smiled creepily at the new picture and hanged it where Mary's painting was.

"Ib…soon we'll be able to play…forever and together again."

More and more dolls emerged from the toy box to stare at the drawing as it slowly changed into a new form.

* * *

Ib and Garry had first went to the room where the portrait of her parents were when she had passed out during their first trip through the gallery. He had let Ib down at this point because his shoulders were getting tired.

Ib placed her hand on the portrait, trying to hug her parents as best as possible even though for all their time in the gallery, they had never moved from the painting.

"Mommy…Daddy, I miss you both so much. I hope you two are doing well and if you somehow hear this, I love you both so much. I'm sorry we couldn't be with each other on this special day, but hopefully that will change soon."

Ib began to silently shed tears, but quickly wiped them away before Garry could notice them.

"Alright Garry, there is one more I want to see before we go to the gallery."

"Alright princess lead the way."

The two of them walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. However, Garry looked back after Ib had gone on ahead and saw the portrait of the two parents become saddened. He smiled at this and ran to catch up with Ib.

Their next stop was in the room where Ib had been forced to play hide and seek to find part of the fish. She immediately ran to the picture that had a girl hanged by her foot, similar to the hanging man.

"Garry…when Mary first pushed us into the toy box, I think I saw this person hung in multiple places in the toy box. I-Is this supposed to be me Garry?"

Garry looked at the picture closely. He instantly recognized the girl in it as Ib, but he didn't want her to worry.

"Well, there are people that can look similar to one another, but she can't be you, because you're standing right here."

Ib stood there looking confused for a second then looked at Garry.

"Yeah, I guess, but the girl in this painting seems exactly like me, even down to the eyes. Its creepy how alike she and I are."

Garry stroked Ib's hair gently, trying to take her mind off of the painting.

"Why did you want to see this painting Ib? I mean, if it's freaking you out so much."

"Well this isn't as bad as you getting scared at those bunnies. Anyway, The Hanged Man is one of my favorite paintings, so it's nice getting to see another version of it."

Garry shrugged, grabbing Ib's hand, leading her out of the room and two the art gallery.

The two arrived in the fake art gallery, with Ib dragging Garry all over the place to look at the different paintings and sculptures. Garry felt like a rag doll being dragged around like this, but soon it would be worth it.

Ib first stopped at the Embodiment of Spirit, allowing Garry to catch his breath after running about. Ib had always wondered what the meaning of the sculpture was, but figured she was probably too young to understand.

They then passed the large mural titled "Fabricated World" and Ib became memorized by it as though she had done something really bad.

"Garry…remember when you came after me…well, this painting was calling to me. Ever since I went with you though, it stopped calling me. Every time I see this, I feel like I made a big mistake and I lost my chance at life."

"Ib…"

"It's okay though Garry, I've gotten to stay with you all this time. I like being with you and though we may be here a long time, you being here makes it worthwhile."

Garry turned away from Ib, before he was caught in another hug, which brought a faint smile to his face.

"You know Garry…when we get out of here, I think I want to be with you for a long time.'

"Me to Ib…me to…"

Ib then let go of Garry and began to walk away.

"Hey Garry, I'm gonna go check out some of the other paintings, are you coming?"

"No…I'll be right here though."

"Alright."

As Ib walked off into another room of the gallery, an empty portrait frame appeared across from the large mural with a blank inscription on the name plate.

_This is it…the moment I have been waiting for so long. Ib…please forgive me._

Ib arrived into the room with the Hanged Man and was shocked to find that the portrait had vanished from its wall. There wasn't even a trace of it. She immediately got scared and decided to run back to Garry.

When Ib got back to Garry she found an empty frame that Garry was just staring at. She immediately tugged at his coat, to get his attention. However, Garry did not budge a single inch and it was like he wasn't even noticing her.

"Ib…I am surprised you haven't realized this yet after all this time, but I suppose I should not be surprised, you are merely a child after all."

Ib immediately backed away from Garry, becoming scared beyond belief.

"I was created by you ya know, I was all you wanted, so your heart created me. I'm not Garry, but I am close enough to the real deal at this point."

"Garry, what do you mean?"

"At first, I was just empty, but the more time I spent with you, the more emotions I absorbed, becoming more and more human…"

Garry then pulled out Ib's rose that now had ten petals on it instead of five, most likely due from being in the gallery for so long.

"Ib you remember when you gave this to me, so I could protect you?"

"Yeah, it was shortly after I followed you…you asked me if I trusted you with my life, so I gave you my rose. Are you giving it back?"

"No Ib…I'm afraid this is where we part ways, after this, you'll never see me or anyone again."

Garry immediately pulled one of the ten petals off, but instead of pain being inflicted on Ib, hundreds of the bunny ornaments came rushing into the room to surround Ib. The bunnies suddenly began to change and went from being cute and fluffy, to horrid little dolls that would make anyone scream.

"Garry, what are you doing, you said we'd be together!"

Garry chuckled to himself, pulling off another petal from the red rose, watching the dolls beginning to lapse onto Ib's body, despite her trying to shake them off.

"I did say that didn't I, well I wasn't lying, you and Garry will be together forever…in eternal slumber."

Ib gasped as the dolls began to form chains on her body, trying to restrict her movement so she would be still, with one long chain being done on her right foot, without her even noticing.

"Garry why…I thought you loved me?"

Garry chuckled even harder, yanking another petal, causing the dolls to harden onto Ib, completely restricting her movement, as the long chain of dolls that had been created on her right foot, began dragging itself up to the ceiling, with Ib not noticing any of it.

"Ib, I do love you, but I am tired of being trapped here. In order to escape, I have to replace someone in the real world. I could have replaced Garry, but I was incomplete at the time when I found you. So I've waited for so long for this moment, when I was finally ready to escape."

At this point the chain had reached the ceiling which seemed to have gotten higher at this point, but Ib couldn't tell the difference. When Garry saw this he began laughing hysterically, hardly able to contain himself, while he pulled another rose.

That's when Ib heard something snap. She suddenly found herself being hoisted into the air upside down, until she hit the ceiling. Her head hit the ceiling head on as the chain turned her around at the last second. She then drooped down, with the chain holding her upside down, with blood dripping from her body, falling onto the floor.

"Garry…was it all a lie…everything you did…was it a lie?"

"Ib do you really want to trouble yourself in your final moments…very well, I will humor you."

Garry pulled another petal, reducing the number of petals left to five. At this point the pain was beginning to affect Ib, with more blood dripping from her onto the cold floor. The dolls that had chained her entire body were loosening, moving to entrap her legs. Ib was trying to struggle, but her injury along with her losing feeling in her legs as the blood rushed to her brain was making her lose conscious.

"At first, it was a lie, but I did come to care for you. However, there were a few key points in which the lies were to lead to this moment."

Garry pulled another petal, causing the dolls to break Ib's legs, causing one huge chain to form from the ceiling to her midsection. Ib was sobbing at this point, knowing that even if she somehow survived, she was doomed.

"The first time was when we first met here. When the lights flickered and the frame on the Fabricated World had vanished…that was your way home. You abandoned it because you wanted to be with me, because you trusted me. It's quite sad actually, if you had jumped through, none of this would be happening."

Garry pulled off another rose petal, causing the dolls to creep up to Ib's shoulders, with the chain lowering by a couple of feet. Ib knew that in the next few moments, she'd be gone.

"The second time and I suppose the final time as I did it over and over, was when we saw that portrait where you had become the Hanged Man."

"Garry…"

Garry then pulled three petals off reducing the rose to a meager state with Ib's life teetering in that one petal. The dolls had completely clamped onto Ib at this point and she had lost so much blood, that the struggling had ceased.

The dolls slowly began to crush her, with the chain coming down to ground level so Ib's eyes could meet with Garry's one last time.

"Ib, is there anything you want to say to me before I go?"

"Yes…you know, I always wandered, if someone took The Hanged Man's place, if he could be free…is he free now Garry?"

"Yes, you are now paying for his crime, he is free."

Ib smiled at this, no longer feeling the pain as her body had gone limp at this point.

"Garry…I…love…"

Garry pulled the last petal as Ib said this, ending her life. The dolls all fell from her body, except for the ones that formed the chain. They lifted Ib back into the air, only to let her go so she could fall to the ground. The chain then split into two and reached down, grabbing Ib by the arms, gripping them tightly. The dolls had made Ib a puppet, the chain was like the puppet strings that would control her body from this point on.

However, Garry snapped his fingers, causing the dolls to begin forming a chain around her neck and lift her back into the air. As she was lifted into the air, she began to vanish, her body ceasing to be. The fake Garry then looked at the portrait behind him and saw Ib being hanged by her feet, her limp body staring at the ground.

"Ib, now and forever you are now christened as The Hanged Woman…"

The Fake Garry turned and saw the frame surrounding The Fabricated World disappear. He then walked into the mural, being sent to the real world.

Back in Mary's room, the picture the dolls had hanged there early had changed into an exact replica of Ib looking perfectly normal. She was holding a red rose in the picture, but it looked like that the life had been sucked out of her.

"Ib…time to wake up and play…"

* * *

**So yeah, that happened. Anyway, sorry for not updating my other fics, hopefully I can get something for those soon. If you could, please leave a review and I hope you enjoyed this one-shot. Ib, want to end us off on a happy note.**

**Ib: ...**

**Me: Oh right...well, until next time.**


End file.
